Hill picks Phoenix

[Mainstreet]

Part of me would really like to see Tucker start and play most of his minutes at the beginning of the first and third quarters. Then Hill/Diaw/Barbosa come in off the bench and can be assured to all play together while Nash is out.

If one of the Suns rookies could come through it would really help the Suns. If only Tucker was another Michael Finley. At least I can wish.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

I wont be holding my breath for starting rookies under dantoni...

 

[mribnik]

Oh, and it looks like the Suns offered him the biennial exception, not the vet min.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I wont be holding my breath for starting rookies under dantoni...

Especially on a team that has the best starting unit in the league.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

There has to be an available pass first PG available for the Suns that can at least backup Nash. I'm not counting on Banks (hope I'm wrong) and I think using LB as a backup PG detracts from his game at SG. I do see LB improving his PG skills as he matures.

I don't think too much though, Barbosa greatest strength is his biggest weakness when it come to ball distribution. He has become a dynamic scorer with his three point shot and basically blows by any player he wants but I see that as the major hindurance to why he is a horrible ball distributor and why those skills never seem to improve much and especially in 2007-08.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

Oh, and it looks like the Suns offered him the biennial exception, not the vet min.

Wouldnt the vet min be more efficient for hill from the suns viewpoint, unless we are planning to get....

ANOTHER VET?

 

[SirStefan32]

This is great. Hill was always one of my favorite players. I think he will really help. I remember so many times last season I was thinking, "I just wish SOMEBODY, other than Nash could make something happen." Amare tries, but he end up forcing too many shots in those situations.

Hill is one of the smartest players in the league, and assuming D'Antoni plays him and he manages to stay healthy, he will have major impact on the Suns. Good signing!!!

 

[Gee!]

Now this, more than KG or Kobe, gets me excited..

 

[Cheesebeef]

if this top 8 remains intact and somehow stays healthy for most of the season and is completely healthy for the post-season, we will be celebrating our first NBA Title at this time next summer.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

I hate to do it - BUT does anyone think that this signing maybe a precursor to jump back into serious KG trade talk. One of the reasons I felt things fell apart is because the Suns couldn't get into the top of the lottery to get an adequate SF replacement (such as Brewer, Yi, or Jeff Green) should they have traded Marion. Maybe they wanted to see if they could get Hill before sending Marion (along with Barbosa and ATL #1) over there.

I think its naive to think KG will be back in Minny next season and I can't see who is going to make a better offer.

Is this the calm before the storm.

FYI - I love this signing. Finally a guy who can distribute or create his own shot since Joe. I don't think we should count on him too much but he is a nice luxury to have at the minimum. This makes up for not getting Finley two years ago IMO.

 

[Ollie]

Wouldnt the vet min be more efficient for hill from the suns viewpoint, unless we are planning to get....

ANOTHER VET?

Doesn't matter because we can sign as many minimum salary players as we want (veterans or not). But we lost the LLE until june 09.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

FYI - I love this signing. Finally a guy who can distribute or create his own shot since Joe. I don't think we should count on him too much but he is a nice luxury to have at the minimum. This makes up for not getting Finley two years ago IMO.

It isn't the minimum, but the LLE. He is getting 1.8M vs. 1.2M or so. We have to pay all of that salary as well, whereas the league pays almost half of the mimimum salary I believe. It will have some luxury tax implications as well.

So there all you "Sarver is cheap" spewers.

 

[asudevil83]

Doesn't matter because we can sign as many minimum salary players as we want (veterans or not). But we lost the LLE until june 09.

well the LLE does cost us more.....$1.8mil vs the $1.4mil Hill would get with the vet min. i dont know if that's what he was getting at.

 

[azirish]

What I like about Hill's three point shooting is that he knows he isn't good at it and thus doesn't do it. I wish Marion would figure out this approach.

As for his defense, I guess we'll see. He played on the third best defense by shooting percentage last season and was at SG much of the time. It's not like he has to replace a lock down.

Beyond the tanbibles Hill brings, there are the intangibles of a veteran who is unlikely to disappear in the playoffs, a lockerroom guy who can remind everyone just how good they have it, and a team guy.

At the same time, Hill is able to make his own shot and is a better than average ball handler. I cannot see opponents simply leaving him alone like they tended to do with Marion and Jones.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

What I like about Hill's three point shooting is that he knows he isn't good at it and thus doesn't do it. I wish Marion would figure out this approach.

I hear ya. D'Antoni thinks that a wide open 3 from a bad shooter, is better than a contested 2 if he were to drive to the basket for example.

 

[Rab]

What I like about Hill's three point shooting is that he knows he isn't good at it and thus doesn't do it. I wish Marion would figure out this approach.

That makes at least 2 of us. I cringe whenever I see him shoot from distance.

Another plus about Hill is that he gets to the line. That can't hurt either.

 

[azirish]

I hear ya. D'Antoni thinks that a wide open 3 from a bad shooter, is better than a contested 2 if he were to drive to the basket for example.

I wonder. I thnk it is possible that he gives some players too much freedom. It is almost like he doesn't want to stop Marion from taking those shots because Shawn makes up for it with the rest of his shots.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

Hill to sign with Phoenix after agreeing to deal

By Chad Ford






Grant Hill, who fell short of expectations in six injury-marred seasons with Orlando, has decided to sign a free-agent contract with the Phoenix Suns.
The move continues an overhaul of the Magic lineup and shores up the small forward position for Phoenix.


Hill's agent, Lon Babby, said Thursday that Hill has agreed in principle to a two-year deal -- known as a bi-annual exception -- for $1.8 million this season and almost $2 million in 2008-09 at the player's option. Teams can offer $1.2 million as the mid-level exception for veterans, but can offer the bigger $1.8 million bi-annually.


The deal will not be considered official until July 11, the first day free agents are allowed to officially sign new contracts.


Hill also considered the Pistons, Heat, Mavs and Spurs but ultimately chose the Suns because of their ability to give him a meaningful role on the team and a chance at a championship.


"Obviously money wasn't the biggest factor here," Babby said. "He had offers for a lot more money. Grant wants a chance to win a championship and he wanted to go to a place that would give him a chance to contribute. Phoenix was the perfect fit."


Hill gives Phoenix some help at small forward after the team traded away James Jones on draft night. Hill should challenge Boris Diaw for the starting small forward role.


Despite Hill joining the team, the Suns' future remains rather murky at this point. While they have been a contender every year since Steve Nash joined the team, uncertainty remains around the roster for the 2007-08 season.


The team has been heavily involved in Kevin Garnett trade rumors this summer. In almost every scenario that has leaked, players like Shawn Marion or Amare Stoudemire could potentially head to other teams. It is still unclear how Hill's signing will affect the Suns' thinking about trading Marion or Stoudemire or trading for Garnett.


Suns owner Robert Sarver would like new Suns general manager Steve Kerr to trim around $10 million in payroll this summer in order to avoid paying the league's luxury tax -- another factor that might influence the team's decision-making.


Hill's decision to leave the Magic ends a long, tortured relationship with the franchise. When Hill joined the team in 2000 (along with free agent Tracy McGrady) in a sign-and-trade with Detroit, people were talking about winning championships. However, complications from ankle surgery in the summer of 2000 derailed Hill's career.


In his six seasons with the Magic, Hill played more than 30 games in a season only twice. In total, Hill played in only 200 of the 492 total regular-season games the Magic played while he was under contract for $93 million.


Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider.

Damn Chad - put down the hater-ade. I really do think this is a precursor before a trade.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

That makes at least 2 of us. I cringe whenever I see him shoot from distance.

Another plus about Hill is that he gets to the line. That can't hurt either.

You can just see it when he wants to fire one up too, the process is usually as follows;
1. Looks completely surprised that he is wide open from three,
2. Sets up his feet to point straight
3. Brings the ball down to his chest preparing for launch, but it's kind of a slow process if you knowwuddaimsay'n .
it's like the event horizon you know it's gonna happen when he does this. I am usually saying NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!.

 

[Mainstreet]

I do not like Marion taking three point shots with regularity, however, when he does it in the flow of the game he seems to shoot it fairly well. That said, when an opposing team makes him an outside shooter then he wilts.

 

[Covert Rain]

Uh, thats not enough.

The've lost Jones, they need to replace his 3 point shooting. The Suns in D'Antoni's system are at their best when everyone can shoot. If they had an Eddie House type who could come off the bench and just jack up threes while everyone was cold, it would be very beneficial to them

What 3 point shooting? The Suns could hardly depend on Jame's 3 point shooting period. So they won't miss anything by signing Hill.

Exactly, Hill isn't going to become a great three point shooter at this point, he really doesn't need too, Hill is a fantastic shooter from the field, and he can still get in the lane too. If he stays healthy I would imagine he starts often, but likely the rotation will work out to where he is in while Nash sits in the third and early 4th, only to come back in with around 5 minutes left in the game.

I hate to do it - BUT does anyone think that this signing maybe a precursor to jump back into serious KG trade talk. One of the reasons I felt things fell apart is because the Suns couldn't get into the top of the lottery to get an adequate SF replacement (such as Brewer, Yi, or Jeff Green) should they have traded Marion. Maybe they wanted to see if they could get Hill before sending Marion (along with Barbosa and ATL #1) over there.

I think its naive to think KG will be back in Minny next season and I can't see who is going to make a better offer.

Is this the calm before the storm.

FYI - I love this signing. Finally a guy who can distribute or create his own shot since Joe. I don't think we should count on him too much but he is a nice luxury to have at the minimum. This makes up for not getting Finley two years ago IMO.

I am so exhausted from all the KG speculation. I don't even want to think of it.

 

[Rab]

You can just see it when he wants to fire one up too, the process is usually as follows;
1. Looks completely surprised that he is wide open from three,
2. Sets up his feet to point straight
3. Brings the ball down to his chest preparing for launch, but it's kind of a slow process if you knowwuddaimsay'n .
it's like the event horizon you know it's gonna happen when he does this. I am usually saying NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!.

 

[Ollie]

It isn't the minimum, but the LLE. He is getting 1.8M vs. 1.2M or so. We have to pay all of that salary as well, whereas the league pays almost half of the mimimum salary I believe. It will have some luxury tax implications as well.

So there all you "Sarver is cheap" spewers.

If Hill signed a one-year contract at minimum salary, the league would have paid amounts above the minimum salary for a two-year veteran (for Hill that would have been roughly 400K of 1.2M). And he would have counted for 800K or so against our cap.

Sarver lost 2M next year by signing Cheap Hill, the guy who earned over $100M during his career and bothers you for $600k.

 

[azirish]

Chad Ford's article is typical of his stuff lately.

1. Yes the Suns want to cut payroll and have. No one in their right mind think they could have possibly cut $10 million from where they are now. The scenerio of moving both Jones and KT would have done it, but it is obvious that is not happeing. Their situation is not uncertain, they will pay luxury tax so that's not an issue.

2. Bringing up the KG stuff is equally irrelevant. The deal was based on being able to use draft picks and that period is gone. Why bring it up? (What part of the "we are not tradeing Stoudemire" doesn't he understand?)

 

[Rab]

I think I just read on another board about how an Orlando reported wrote that Hill will replace Bell in the starting lineup.

Muahahahahaha. Yeah right, like that's going to happen.